Diversities across early childhood settings: Contesting identities and transforming curricula

Abstract

Our rethinking in this concluding chapter clusters around the intimately linked themes of curriculum and contested identities. Th ese overarching themes are expansive enough to fold in multiple conceptions of other key topics like literacies and the nature of research. We do not conclude with a single defi nition of social justice, just as we don’t off er tidy prescriptions for “best practice.” Instead, we aim to off er chapter authors’ multiple recommendations for thought and action that move us closer to ideals of social justice. Many authors grounded the need for rethinking curriculum within the current context of No Child Left Behind, which emphasizes the learning of skills, particularly in the area of literacy, narrowly defi ned as “reading.” Others pointed out the gap in many educators’ expectations for “at-risk” children, contrasted with children of middle-class background who are not perceived through this defi cit lens or have not been labeled with a disability. We next review the authors’ contributions according to the themes of curriculum and contested identities within the three sections of the book. Th e brevityof our comments is not meant to reduce their work to simple abstracts but to highlight possible links to these two themes and to encourage readers to revisit individual chapters for their rich details and challenging recommendations.